3
On the day the LORD gives you relief from your suffering and turmoil and from the harsh labor forced on you,

4
you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has come to an end! How his furya has ended!

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The LORD has broken the rod of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers,

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which in anger struck down peoples with unceasing blows, and in fury subdued nations with relentless aggression.

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All the lands are at rest and at peace; they break into singing.

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Even the junipers and the cedars of Lebanon gloat over you and say, “Now that you have been laid low, no one comes to cut us down.”

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The realm of the dead below is all astir to meet you at your coming; it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you— all those who were leaders in the world; it makes them rise from their thrones— all those who were kings over the nations.

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They will all respond, they will say to you, “You also have become weak, as we are; you have become like us.”

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All your pomp has been brought down to the grave, along with the noise of your harps; maggots are spread out beneath you and worms cover you.

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How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!

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You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.b

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I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”

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But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.

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Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble,

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the man who made the world a wilderness, who overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home?”

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All the kings of the nations lie in state, each in his own tomb.

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But you are cast out of your tomb like a rejected branch; you are covered with the slain, with those pierced by the sword, those who descend to the stones of the pit. Like a corpse trampled underfoot,

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you will not join them in burial, for you have destroyed your land and killed your people. Let the offspring of the wicked never be mentioned again.

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Prepare a place to slaughter his children for the sins of their ancestors; they are not to rise to inherit the land and cover the earth with their cities.

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“I will rise up against them,” declares the LORD Almighty. “I will wipe out Babylon’s name and survivors, her offspring and descendants,” declares the LORD.

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“I will turn her into a place for owls and into swampland; I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD Almighty.